Preston's Challenge: A Randomized Nuzlocke Story
by TheChongoShow
Summary: Preston wakes up in a strange world where all of the Pokemon have different moves, different types, different everything. He has to take on the challenge given to him if he ever wants to make it home again. Made up of a cast of OC's. Meant as writing practice, but hopefully you all enjoy it as much as I do.


**Chapter 1: Challenger**

Waking up with a headache is never a good feeling. When your first conscious feeling of the day is discomfort, then some believe the rest of your day will be bad as if the morning headache was some kind of curse. Of course, waking up in the middle of a dirt path is enough of a curse as it is. You'd think that opening your eyes to see you're on a barren dirt path with no idea where you are would align your priorities incredibly quickly, but a headache is _very_ effective in taking up your attention, especially if you've just woken up.

As I slowly struggled to get up, waves of vertigo washed over me. This was definitely one heck of a headache. It was the kind of headache that made sunlight hurt your eyes. I instinctively lifted up my left arm to block the sunlight and as I- wait. What was that on my left wrist? It looked like some kind of watch. It had a bright green digital interface with words on it that I could have read if my vision wasn't so blurred from having just woken up. I'd never seen this watch before in my life.

"Wondering what that is on your wrist, hotshot?"

I immediately jumped up as I heard the feminine voice behind me. I frantically hopped to my feet, attempting to keep my balance amidst the dizziness as I reached for my Crobat's Pokéball on my belt. "Max!" I shouted as I instinctively threw the orb on my waist.

As I turned to face the voice, my eyes finally focused to see what was in front of me. It was a girl who couldn't have been older than 16, so about my age, sitting on a log. She had light brown hair, which she wore in a ponytail, and wore a dark red zipped-up hoodie. My eyes followed her freckled face as she started to laugh at what I had done. Between us was a smashed tomato against the ground.

"You know, 'Max' sounds like a really weird thing to name your tomato! I would've gone with something like 'Tom'. Cuz, you know. 'Tom'-ato. Get it?" the mysterious girl said between laughs.

My eyes darted down to my belt. The other five of my Pokéballs had been replaced with tomatoes. My eyes focused directly back to the girl. "Where are they?"

The girl stood up, brushing some dirt off of her jeans. "Oh, don't worry! Your Pokémon are safe. I made sure that they were kept safe when you were brought here. Erm….Preston? It's Preston, right?"

I flinched. She knew my name and she wasn't going to tell me where my friends were. Not the best impression. "Yeah, that's my name. What do you mean you made sure they were kept safe?"

She ignored the question. "Okay good, I'm terrible with names! Glad I remembered yours!" She lingered a little too long on the word "yours". Was she…flirting? "I mean then again, after you beat Cynthia, your name kinda stuck easier. Anyway, my name's Disc. Nice for us to finally meet." Disc extended her hand.

Less than a second after her offer, I responded. "No handshake until you tell me what the hell is going on."

Disc giggled quietly as she retracted her hand. "Wanting to jump right in, then? No mystery? Alright then. I guess we'll start with the big one. You're in a computer simulation right now."

My dizziness suddenly became much stronger. Whether it was just out of chance or if it came from the sudden spike of stress, I wasn't sure. "But, everything looks so real?" Probably not the most clever thing I could have said.

The permanent smile on Disc's face only served to grow somewhat larger. "It's amazing what technology can do these days, isn't it?"

I loosened up a little bit as I looked around. The trees and the grass around us looked incredibly life-like to the point that I could hardly believe what she was saying. Did that mean I was an avatar of sorts? It looked like I was still wearing my favorite flannel shirt and khaki pants. I patted my hair. Yep, still messy, and most likely still a shade of dark blue. But that sort of stuff isn't what I was worried about at the moment.

"What kind of simulation?"

She cheerfully dug into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a Pokéball and immediately tossed it out in front of her. Out came an armored beast standing on its hind legs with pincers poking out in front of it. I recognized it immediately, which meant I was prepared to answer her next question. "What can you tell me about this Pokémon?"

The information came out almost automatically. "That's Armaldo. Going extinct thousands of years ago, scientists have discovered how to resurrect the Pokémon recently. Its plates are incredibly tough, which complements it's incredibly strong retractable claws. As far as battle information goes, it's type is Rock and Bug with the ability Battle Armor. Statistically, it has very high attack and quite formidable defenses, however it is quite slow."

Disc couldn't help herself but to laugh once more. "Wow, you're like a walking Pokedex, aren't you? You must've spent a lot of time in the Trainer's School." She leaned against a nearby tree. "Alright, nerd. Why don't you do me a favor real quick and touch one of the plates on that Armaldo?"

Reluctantly, I slowly started to move my hand closer to the Pokémon that was nearly my size. I saw the Plate Pokémon's eye track my hand as it approached, but it didn't seem to tense up at it in the slightest. My hand slowly went closer, and I could already tell what Disc was talking about as it slowly approached the plate, but my hand had to keep moving towards it as if to confirm my suspicions. I rested my hand on the plate as I turned my head toward Disc. "It's freezing."

"Don't lick it or your tongue might stick to it," she said playfully. "Now check out that new watch of yours."

I looked down at the light green interface around my wrist to see that a picture of the Armaldo had shown up with various technical stats, although the first line took me a while to grasp.

"TYPE: ICE"

That was clearly wrong, but my right hand still on Armaldo told me otherwise. My head snapped to the girl I had recently met. "It's an Ice type Pokémon?"

Another mischievous chuckle. I felt like I was going to be hearing those from her for a while. And I was right. "You better be ready to unlearn a lot of the stuff you learned over in Trainer's school, hotshot. Everything in this world is randomized. The Pokémon types? Random. The moves they learn? Random. Where each Pokémon lives? Random. Everything in this world is turned on its head and you're gonna have to make the best of it!"

I checked my watch to see just how different the Armaldo before me was.

"LVL 5 | ATK 10 | DEF 12 | SPATK 11 | SPDEF 15 | SPD 16"

Incredible! Despite being a slow Armaldo, speed was its strongest stat. And it completely floundered in terms of attack and opted for a more defensive approach. On one hand, I was completely confused, but on the other I felt a strange feeling of excitement welling up inside of me that I couldn't explain. I kept reading.

"ABILITY: TORRENT

MOVES: POWER TRICK | HEAL BLOCK | MINIMIZE | SHADOW CLAW"

Definitely one of the stranger movesets! With only one move that could do damage and other moves being strictly situational, it became a question of what else this Pokémon could be taught. I looked up at the Pokémon to see that its eyes had locked with mine. It didn't seem hostile to any degree, but moreso seemed somewhat friendly. It reminded me of the last time I had locked eyes with a friend.

 _"Max! We did it!" I shouted with a mixture of glee and disbelief! In front of us was the Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia. We had just defeated her in a final battle leaving all twelve Pokémon between us fainted except for Max, and he was on the edge of consciousness himself. I took the Bat Pokémon into my arms and I made sure he was alright. I hadn't seen him fight that hard in his life._

 _He looked up to meet my eyes, and let out a weak, yet triumphant cry. "That's right Max!" I said to him with tears of joy welling up in my eyes. "We're champions!" I took the Pokéball from my belt and recalled my injured Crobat as he closed his eyes._

 _I looked up to see Cynthia walking over towards me. "I must say, you really put up quite a fight. I think it's more than fitting that you made it all the way to where you are now. Preston, I am honored to call you a new Pokémon Champion."_

 _I quickly stood up as I saw a stairway behind her extend and connect to another room. "Thank you very much, ma'am!"_

 _She laughed. "Like I said, please call me Cynthia," the woman in black said as she climbed up the newly formed stairway. "Come on in, we'll make it official and enter your Pokémon into the Hall of Fame."_

 _I started to follow, but something stopped me. "You go ahead. I have to take care of something first." As Cynthia walked up the staircase, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone and I called someone I had looked forward to calling._

 _The phone only rang once before I got a cheerful response. "Hello?"_

 _It was a joy to hear that voice again. The warm, smooth voice that made me feel like home despite being so far from it. "Hi, Mom! It's me! Preston!"_

 _There was a soft gasp. "Preston! Oh my goodness, it's so excellent to hear from you again! How are things going with you and your Pokémon?"_

 _I looked down at my belt to the six friends that had accompanied me. "I was just calling to tell you. I'm at the Pokémon League right now. I did it. I'm a Champion." The word sent shivers down my spine._

 _There was a cheer on the other end of the line. "That's amazing, Preston! I'm sure your father will be proud to hear all about it!"_

 _I paused for a moment. "Y-Yeah….I'm sure he will. Listen, there's something I'd like to ask you."_

 _My mother paused for a moment as well. She could feel my discomfort. "Of course. What is it?"_

 _"Do…do you think that you could maybe keep this all a secret for a bit?"_

 _My mother paused for a moment and then gave her response. "Of course I can, sweetie. I understand completely."_

 _"Thank you so much, Mom. It means the world to me."_

 _Silence on the other end._

 _"Mom, are you there?"_

 _I took the phone away from the receiver and read the screen. "Call Disconnected" Just at that moment I heard two loud slams. My eyes darted all around the room to find the entrance I had used along with the room Cynthia had gone into were suddenly shut._

 _Then the room suddenly went dark….._

"So what do ya think? Pretty neat, huh?"

I finally took my hand off of the cold Pokémon. "Definitely interesting. Why am I here?" It was time to focus on the real questions. As cool as this was, this was all still a really sketchy situation.

Disc's ears perked up. "Oh yeah, that might be important. Well, you had just become a champion of Sinnoh! Why not give you another challenge?"

My ears perked up as well. "A challenge? I'm guessing you want me to take on the League again, only this time with all of this strangeness?"

"Well, there are some other rules, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

A challenge, huh? I was never one to turn down a challenge, but I didn't know where any of my friends were. I was trapped in this weird virtual world. I loved the challenge, but I had a home to go back to. "This Armaldo here, is this yours?"

Disc tossed a Pokéball to me. "His name's Amos. Treat him well!" As if on cue, the Armaldo gave a happy-sounding cry, clicking its claws.

"And if I don't want do this challenge?"

Disc turned her back and shrugged. "It's too late now. What are you gonna do about it? Besides, imagine how bad Amos will feel if you abandon him so soon."

I was trapped? "I'm sure I'll feel a whole lot worse about this." With that, I charged her, grabbing the hood of her hoodie, drawing a gasp from the girl. "Take me back home or else Amos here will wipe the smile right off your face."

I couldn't see it, but the tone in her voice and my experience with her so far told me she was wearing a wide grin. "Ooo! A bit of a bad boy, aren't you? You're forgetting that this is all virtual, so thanks for the empty threat. But if you really wanna play rough-" I heard the sound of a Pokéball opening quickly followed by a hard, blunt something slamming into my side, knocking the wind out of me and sending me flying a few feet away. I regained my composure as quickly as I could to see an Arbok slithering next to her, its tail shining with a metallic glow. "-then I can play rough. Get 'im, Basil!"

I coughed as I regained my breath. "Amos, Shadow Claw!"

I looked over to the Armaldo as a swarm of shadows formed around its claws. He leaped toward the Arbok in front of him and slashed his target with the shadowy pincer, causing the snake to recoil slightly.

Disc wasn't fazed. "Hey, hotshot! That Armaldo is an Ice-Type, right?"

I almost forgot. "Yeah, it is." It suddenly hit me. The attack that Arbok had hit me with. That metallic tail. That was an Iron Tail. "Amos, get out of there! You're weak to that Arbok's attacks!"

Instantly, the Pokémon leapt away as Arbok's tail slammed into the ground where he stood. It had missed and I had found my game plan. "Good job! Now's your chance to go in for another Shadow Claw!"

Without missing a moment, Amos leapt forward once more with his claws cloaked with shadow. I figured that so long as he kept going in and hopping out before the surprisingly sluggish Arbok could strike, we could whittle down the snake's stamina. I was shocked that the Arbok moved as slowly as it did, but I suppose there were upsides to this topsy-turvy world.

I thought my plan was perfect, but the ever-present smile on Disc's face told me otherwise. "Basil. Do the thing." That couldn't have been good.

And my prediction was right. The second Amos made contact with the Arbok, the snake Pokémon cried out and immediately wrapped part of its body around the claw. Armaldo tried to jump away, but was held tightly in place.

"Just like clockwork. You know what to do, Basil." With that command, Arbok's tail of steel slammed into Armaldo's plated abdomen with a tremendous force.

"Amos!" My cry was answered by a weak moan from Amos. He still couldn't escape and there was no way he could take another hit like that. My mind was racing thinking of what to do as the opponent drew its tail back and prepared the final strike.

A snicker came from my opponent. "Look, I know that a battle like this is off-putting, but I know guys like you. You're gonna love a challenge like this! It's gonna be exhilarating! It's gonna be epic! It's gonna-"

"I don't care!" I interrupted. "I need to go back!"

Her voice lost its nonchalant tone and became more cutting. "Well, it's a little too late. It's already been set into motion, and we need to get moving."

"Who cares about that? Get me the hell out of here!" I nearly shouted.

"Shut it, hotshot! You don't really have a choice! Basil, Iron Tail this little bug into next year!"

Through my despair and rage, my mind was still moving at top speed. All it took was one word from her, but it gave me my way out. "Amos! Minimize!"

The Armaldo shrunk down quickly, escaping the snake's grasp with ease. The second he hit the ground, he leapt back away from the falling tail. It was tougher to see Amos, but I could still identify the small Pokémon leaping away from the cloud of dust. We were back in business.

"Ha! Alright! Get back to those Shadow Claws!" And with that, Amos was back in action. His tiny body thrusted itself toward the Arbok with a shady claw and leapt away just as quickly. It looked as if the two were a shady paddleball of sorts.

Disc was clenching her fists at this point. "Oh, you think you're a smart guy, huh? Well, Arbok's big enough, one of these Iron Tails is bound to hit eventually. Keep swinging!"

It was madness. The Arbok began thrashing about, with its glowing tail flying in any direction trying to land a hit on the speeding ball of shadows as if it was someone trying to use a chair to swat a fly. At some points, it became impossible to keep track of Amos as he went in for attacks.

Arbok's tail crashed against the ground. "I don't get it! All of your friends are fine, if that's what you're worried about! Why can't you just have a little fun?"

Amos sped by and hit his opponent directly with a Shadow Claw. "You're trapping people in these virtual worlds! It's not right!"

The tail made a crash where the shadowy Pokémon once was, only to find it had missed again. "I just do what the boss tells me!"

The Armaldo charged once more, ready to strike. The attacks had to be whittling down the Arbok's power in some way. If they were, then it wasn't showing it. "In that case, I'd recommend a change in business! And while you're quitting, you should let me go home!"

"Stop!" she shouted. "You're being so difficult! Do you know what it's like to have a nerdy stick in the mud do nothing but try to stop everything you try to do?"

"Do you know what it's like to have a family?"

The question echoed through the trees only. The echo was the only thing you could hear outside of the impact of the Iron Tail hitting Amos head-on. He was knocked back towards me, growing back to his original size as he lost consciousness. She was right. It was going to hit eventually. I silently put the Pokémon into its Pokéball and looked up at my opponent as she put up her hood.

"Even if you did beat me, you would have to defeat my boss if you wanted to leave," Disc said much more softly than anything else I've heard her say. After she said it, she took a yellow diamond out of her pocket. It was a Revive! "Here you go. I'd recommend using it now. It'll be your only chance unless you want to lose him."

My head snapped up before I picked up the Revive. "Lose him?"

I heard a faint giggle rise above the heavy tone of her voice. "I told you this was a challenge, right? In this world, Pokémon Centers don't cure fainted Pokémon. If a Pokémon faints, it's gone forever."

The news hit me like a truck. I was so shaken that I couldn't respond to anything Disc was saying as she walked away into the woods, leaving me alone with my failure.

"Your watch will give you further instructions. Best of luck, hotshot."


End file.
